Donor Prospect Research

Many organizations describe themselves as having an annual appeal, but upon further investigation, what the annual appeal consists of may be a letter sent to donors or prospective donors once a year. A strong annual giving appeal consists of far more than just an annual direct mail appeal. For most successful organizations, annual giving may include, personal visits with individual major donors, a corporate appeal, a telephone campaign, Internet fundraising and direct mail.  Read more

One of the first etiquette lessons most parents teach their children is the importance of saying "please" and "thank you." For those of us working in the nonprofit field today, we are always asking for donations; we are accustomed to saying, "please." However, it is sometimes easy to forget to say "thank you" to our donors. So how do we say thank you in a way that is appropriate to our donors?

Why should you thank you donors? Not only is it good common sense and good etiquette. But on the asking side of the coin, it is much easier and cheaper to retain a current donor than it is to locate a new one! In fact, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, currently being conducted by AFP and the Urban Institute, cite statistics that prove that finding a new donor costs more than six times the cost of keeping a current donor.  Read more